Prepare having a stall. (Action delayed because of the unforeseen collapse of a building in Amhurst Road and suspension of the traffic order for the Narroway. Updated action: OS to investigate the status of the ETRO and when it might be the case that the order could be made permanent.) OS was awaiting a reply from Hackney.

JP, BC, DL, RLu, OS

2. Finance

Create a draft budget for 2014/15.

DH

3. Showcase

Suggest budget and co-ordinate. Continue organising.

KC, DH

6. Manifesto

TP and OS to produce a final draft.

TP, OS

7. Ward asks part 2

Finalise ward asks and submit them to LCC Central.

Cttee, TP

1. Minutes and matters arising

Vision: TP had not yet done the Morning Lane and Vision launch meeting, as the Vision draft was not finished.

Narroway: OS had written to Hackney about the Narroway project but had not yet had a reply.

Manifesto: OS had written to the four main parties to announce the manifesto but not to Hackney First.

2. Finance

DH sought views on the end of year financial position. The current balance was around £2000, including a budget assigned to the workshop of £500. He asked whether the workshop would require the £500. CW said that the workshop would be able to spend the £500 allocation before the end of the 2013/14 financial year, and we decided to leave this budget as it was. CW said that the workshop’s rent had been covering itself. TP pointed out that we were going to have another fixed cost for sharing a garage for our vehicles. There was also the ~£350 annual cost of the meeting venue. TP said that we could buy things for the workshop and donate them if there was any difficulty getting funds into the workshop account. DH said that he would create a draft 2014/15 budget for next month’s meeting.

Action: DH to create a draft budget for 2014/15.

3. Showcase

This was now going to take place on the 7th June, 2014. KC had been proceeding with actions on the showcase and handed round an update. She had submitted a street party event application, event management plan, site map, etc. to Hackney. TP and KC were to meet Hackney’s events advisory team. KC had been in dialogue with Bike Yard East, who were going to do a Dr Bike. Hackney BMX Club were also on board. They were building an additional jump at the Haggerston Park BMX course (this was a complementary event and not part of our events application).

There was also the possibility of a film screening on the 6th June, either at the Hackney Picture House or an outdoor one with Magnificent Revolution providing pedal-powered cinema in Haggerston Park. A third option was to hold it at the Hackney Peddler in Hackney Downs Studios. KC said that Magnificent Revolution were working on a pedal-powered generator.

Hackney City Farm had kindly booked the straw bale room and education room for the showcase free of charge. We decided to hold lectures and talks in there, ideally co-ordinated with the Hackney cycling conference. There might be a bike jumble out front of the Farm, and they were also going to ask Frizzante Café about having a barbecue on Saturday evening. The Albion Kids’ Show marquee was booked, along with 10 tables and 20 chairs. KC was going to meet Hackney officers again the week after the meeting.

DH asked about potential income from the event. KC said that we might be able to sell merchandise, and the Friday night cinema screening could also generate income. Last year, we had a budget of £300, but KC said that for the 2014/15 budget for the showcase we would need more. She was keen to produce publicity materials.

Action: KC to suggest budget and co-ordinate with DH. KC to continue organising.

4. Rides

SB did a ride to the Kirkcaldy Testing Museum off Southwark Street (around 15 miles) with ten riders on Sunday the 1st February, which was very successful. The museum was under threat and only opened on the first Sunday of every month, but it might face closure. There was going to be a ride in March, details TBC.

TP asked whether ride numbers were manageable, and SB said that they were, but if they got bigger, she might require some help in marshalling rides.

5. Other events

BP asked about whether we wanted to do a spring or summer ceilidh. St George’s Day was mid-week (Wednesday) and was therefore awkward. The 25th April was a Friday, 26th a Saturday. St Paul’s in West Hackney was a possible venue. We wouldn’t be able to do a full dinner, just a dance, and provide nibbles. TP volunteered to ask the Muckers if they would be available. The Green Kite band might be available, too. We could have a bar. The deadline for the Temporary Event Notice was going to be 28 working days before the date.

6. Manifesto

TP introduced the item. We finalised the wording of the manifesto.

Action: TP and OS to produce a final draft.

7. Ward asks part 2

We set out to complete our ward asks. Having set ten ward asks at our previous meeting, we had eleven to go, but only managed to get through seven at this meeting. We decided to delegate setting the last four to the committee.

King’s Park: We decided to call for ‘reducing the impact of private motor traffic on Chatsworth Road’. Hackney were in the process of preparing a scheme for the street, although this was still in the early stages. The ‘Chatsworth Road Question’ reared its head again, namely whether or not to modally filter Chatsworth Road, which is heavily used by through motor traffic, itself. We decided to use a neutral formulation and to engage with Lower Clapton locals, e.g. the Clapton Neighbourhood Forum and other local groups.

Lea Bridge: The clear priority here was the re-establishment of Clapton Town Centre at the junction of Lower and Upper Clapton Road as well as Lea Bridge Road and Kenninghall Road. This is currently occupied by the Lea Bridge roundabout.

Hackney Downs: OS recommended filtering the Brooke Road area, including Brooke Road, E5, and Brooke Road N16 as well as the ‘ladder’ of streets around Brooke Road, N16 (east-west, Reighton Road to Jenner Road as within Hackney Downs ward; the area inside the Stoke Newington one-way system also needs filtering but is in Stoke Newington ward). This ask tied in with making Stoke Newington two-way, as much of the traffic in the Brooke Road area is rat-running traffic caused by the one-way system to the west.

Shacklewell: Several different options presented themselves: the ‘Shacklewell Green Project’ of filtering the west side of Shacklewell Green and routing through motor traffic around the east side; making the Shacklewell ask a joint ask with Stoke Newington to return the gyratory to two-way operation, or speed reduction measures around the local schools and nursery. We voted on the different options and schools speed reduction measures came out on top, with five votes compared to three for Shacklewell Green and two for a joint ask. Speed reduction measures could take the form of better enforcement or a trial of a 10mph speed limit for motor traffic on side streets (which are already 20mph).

Clissold: We decided to call for a street-long review of Green Lanes. This is one of those streets in Hackney to which a piecemeal approach, with traffic schemes done to no particular plan, won’t be very productive in the long run. A plan needs to be drawn up to transform the street along all of its length. We decided to make this a joint ask with Brownswood ward.

Brownswood: See above under Clissold ward for the joint ask.

Stoke Newington: By far the biggest priority in the 2014 campaign survey, as well as the group’s long-standing number one priority, there could only be one ask here, namely returning the Stoke Newington gyratory to two-way operation. We were in the process of drawing up a detailed Vision for this.

The remaining four wards were Woodberry Down, Stamford Hill West, Springfield, and Cazenove. We delegated these to the committee.

Action: Committee to finalise ward asks and TP to submit them to LCC Central.

Post-meeting note: The committee set the remaining ward asks as follows:

Woodberry Down: Modal filtering of Woodberry Grove, a rat-run.

Stamford Hill West: Reassess the Stamford Hill/Portland Avenue/Dunsmure Road junction, especially the signal phasing, so that it will be easier to cross for cyclists going east-west.

Springfield: Improve Clapton Common north side to create a more continuous alignment for cycling along there, including addressing problems caused by car parking, and establish good crossings at the southern end into the side streets to the southwest.

Cazenove: We decided to call for action on Oldhill Street, the area’s former high street, which is very run-down, with empty shops, partly owing to too much through motor traffic. While modal filtering of the street is likely not to command political support in the area (although this has to be tested), it would have an excellent effect on the whole Stamford Hill area. Other measures, such as improvements to the streetscene and deterring footway car parking, were available to be explored.